Wii U Will Cost More Than $249 - President of Nintendo.

Nintendo Wii won the hearts and minds of gamers worldwide because it provided unique gaming experience thanks to motion-sensing game controllers as well as because of relative affordability. But while the successor of Wii will again offer very innovative controller, it will not be as affordable as the original console.

Satoru Iwata, the president of Nintendo, said in an interview with Nikkei business daily that the Wii U will likely be priced at more than ¥20 000 ($250) in Japan (the launch price of the original Wii in the U.S. at launch) when it goes on sale next year, reports Bloomberg news-agency. Nintendo is unlikely to sell the new console for the same price as the current Wii, the report cited Mr. Iwata as saying.

Thanks to low price and innovative motion-sensing game controller, Wii attracted to gaming those, who had never played video games before, which is why it turned out to be the best-selling console of the generation. But with more advanced games with more complex controlling schemes and with higher price of the hardware, Wii U may be less successful among non-hardcore gamers. Nintendo still targets all audiences with the Wii U.

“As an industry what we haven’t achieved yet is a game platform that is equally satisfying for all player. This is exactly what we intend to create with our new home platform," said Mr. Iwata.

Nintendo Wii U combines motion-sensing game play with the ability to support full HD graphics and generally performance demanding games that can run on consoles like Microsoft Xbox 360 or Sony PlayStation 3. The system itself is based on a custom IBM Power microprocessor as well as a modern ATI Radeon HD graphics chip with high-definition graphics and video support. But the main feature of the code-named Cafe game console is its unique controller with 6.2" touch-screen that also features an accelerometer and a gyroscope, a rumble feature, an inward-facing camera, a microphone and speakers that can be used to play both classic Gamecube/Wii games as well as specially designed titles that take advantage of the screen. Each Wii U console will be partnered with a new controller and can also use up to four additional Wii Remote or Wii Remote Plus controllers. The system is also backward compatible and can play all Wii games and use all Wii accessories.

Discussion

On the positive side, all of the Wii's peripherals can be reused with Wii U. However, the inability to support more than one 6.2" touch-screen controller is a big limitation since this innovative controller is one of the main selling features for the console.

The other problem Nintendo has is that because PS4 and Xbox next are not here yet, developers will most likely simply make cross-platform "hardcore" games that may only marginally look better on the Wii U in the period 2012-2013. Even if the hardware is vastly superior to the GPUs found in modern consoles, will developers spend extra $ to really show the power of this new console? I am not so sure. It's going to be very hard to sway current PS3/Xbox360 owners to purchase the Wii U to play the Next COD game, unless the Wii's 3rd party mature games look a lot better and their online gaming community is much improved.

I have a feeling the Wii U will be a much better all-around console the the original Wii was, but it will still be a choice between PS4 OR Xbox720 + Wii U for most hardcore gamers who still desire to play Nintendo's excellent first party titles.

Preview

4.

The product is total FAIL in the midst of a MASSIVE controller; imagine playing Call of Duty on this octopus controller. Imbeciles. Better come out with a normal size controller by DEFAULT if you want it to be a success. Otherwise, TOTAL FAIL

Preview

5.

@ericcore
have you read anything about this console? the wii remote and nunchuck are also compatible with any game + the next classic controller that they make. Anyways it still seems like alot of fun to play with the big comtroller, more challeng right?